Tag: trophoblast

Yosef Buganim and his colleagues from Hebrew University of Jerusalem have successfully reprogrammed skin fibroblasts in placenta-generating cells.

The placenta is a marvelously complex, but it is also a vital organ for the unborn baby. It supplies oxygen and nutrients to the growing baby and removes waste products from the baby’s blood. The placenta firmly attaches to the wall of the uterus and the umbilical cord arises from it.

The placenta forms from a population of cells in the blastocyst-stage embryo known as trophoblast cells. These flat, outer cells interact with the endometrial layer of the mother’s uterus to gradually form the placenta, which firmly anchors the embryo to the side of the uterus and produce a structure that serves as an embryonic kidney, endocrine gland, lung, gastrointestinal tract, immune system, and cardiovascular organ.

Trophoblast form after an embryonic event known as “compaction,” which occurs at about the 12-cell stage (around day 3). Compaction binds the cells of the embryo tightly together and distinguishes inner cells from outer cells. The outer cells will express the transcription factor Cdx2 and become trophoblast cells. The inner cells will express the transcription factor Oct4 (among others too), and will become the cells of the inner cell mass, which make the embryo proper.

Fetal growth restriction, which is also known as intrauterine growth restriction, refers to a condition in which a fetus is unable to achieve its genetically determined potential size. It occurs when gas exchange and nutrient delivery to the fetus are not sufficient to allow it to thrive in utero. Fetal growth restriction can lead to mild mental retardation or even fetal death. This disease also cause complications for the mother.

Modeling a disease like fetal growth restriction has proven to be very difficult largely because attempts to isolate and propagate trophoblast cells in culture have been unsuccessful. However, these new findings by Buganim and his colleagues may change that.

Buganim and his coworkers screened mouse embryos for genes that support the development of the placenta. They identified three genes – Gata3, Eomes, and Tfap2c – that, when transfected into skin fibroblasts, could drive the cells to differentiate into stable, fully-functional trophoblast cells. Buganim called these cells “induced trophoblast stem cells” or iTSCs.

In further tests, Hana Benchetrit in Buganim’s laboratory and her colleagues showed that these iTSCs could integrate into a developing placenta and contribute to it.

Buganim and his team are using the same technology to generate fully functional human placenta-generating cells.

If this project succeeds, it might give women who suffer from the curse of recurrent miscarriages or other placenta dysfunctions diseases the chance to have healthy babies. Also, since these iTSCs integrate into the placenta and not the embryo, they pose little risk to the developing baby.

This work was published in Cell Stem Cell 2015; DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2015.08.006.